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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23545099">Soaring to the Start</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyNayYayHey/pseuds/ReyNayYayHey'>ReyNayYayHey</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>STTS, FTTF [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/F, Fluff, Help, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Slow Burn, This only has the haikyuu characters, i just stole the general quirk hero dynamic from bnha, no bnha ones, sorry horikoshi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:21:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,665</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23545099</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyNayYayHey/pseuds/ReyNayYayHey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since the incident four years ago, otherwise known as The Villain Raid, the amount of hero wannabes has dwindled into almost nothing. Though, the amount  doesn't matter if the ones who do decide to risk their lives are amazing at their job.</p><p>~</p><p>The Haikyuu!! x Bnha fic no one except for myself asked for. </p><p>~</p><p>I procrastinate, so updates will approximately be every two weeks, but it might be more or less.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>A whole lot of other ships i really do not want to tag, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>STTS, FTTF [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1694470</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Nekoma Entrance Exam</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Heya!! Thanks for deciding to give this story a chance. This has only Haikyuu!! characters in it, and while it's a bit confusing at first, we cover the first year entrance exams for each school, and Karasuno is last. Only 4 schools are included though, because I'm lazy. Once we finish that, it will focus on Karasuno for like 2 chapters and then some shit goes on that I'll explain later. Enjoy this mess. I'll probably give up on it, but whatever~</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> It all began in China, in Qingqing city. There was news that a baby who gave off light was born. Ever since then, superpowers were discovered in various places, and time passed without the cause being identified. Before we knew it, the supernatural became normal, and dreams became reality. The world has become a superhuman society, and about 80% of the world's population now has some kind of special trait. In this world swirling with chaos, the profession that everyone once dreamed about and admired came into the limelight. That profession is…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Heroes! </em>
</p><p>First day jitters. Well, it wasn’t the first day yet, and Lev didn’t even know if he’d make it into the prestigious Nekoma hero school at all, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to give up! Or, he would like to say that. In reality, he had almost run late to the written, barely making it, and probably had the same result in the actual test. But he was sure to succeed with the practical. From past years, it was almost always some sort of competition from past graduates of the school, so Lev was sure that it would be the same this year. A bit of research proved the fact that not many people passed the exam, and even fewer first years got into the school, which was why there was always a distinct lack of people headed towards the school.</p><p>Second and third years were welcome to watch the potential first years on their performance in the practical, though Lev knew that not many would show up. A waste of a good day of break was their reason, most likely. He quickly looked through the book of notes he had made about the newest graduates of the hero course. The slight amount of research he did might be considered stalking, on further consideration, but it’s not like anyone knew, and it had benefited him greatly. Of course, he hadn’t bothered with memorizing the piece of paper that he earlier had called a book, in an effort to feel accomplished, but he was well rehearsed enough that certain points came almost naturally to him. The questions on the written were all things he had previously studied, though that didn’t make it any less daunting. After all, just because you know what to do, doesn’t mean you automatically do it.</p><p>Lev took a deep breath as he headed towards the grounds where they would be evaluated. In previous years, out of the 20 people that applied for the hero course, only about 7 got in, and that was the record. Some years, not one got it, and others only a select few. The statistics were not on his side, but compared to other schools, 7 was actually quite high. The highest acceptance rate is Karasuno, with an average of 8, but they also held the highest expulsion rate, with many not even lasting the first day. They were more academically relaxed, though the tests were still grueling enough to leave anyone not fully prepared reeling. Nekoma itself was around the middle of the highest and lowest. The lowest was probably Fukurodani, with around 2 to 3 people each year. </p><p>In most schools, because of such low acceptance rates, and that the schools had to also juggle large numbers of students applying for other classes, they put the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years in the same classes for hero works. This, while being slightly messy for the schedule, worked better than having classes of different age groups, with about 4 each. In the first place, not many people wanted to be heroes these days, after a large incident 3 years prior took many of the newest graduates’ lives, along with quite a few famous heroes, like Edgeshot. It scared the next few generations enough that many decided to give up on their long lived dream, meaning that heroes were fewer than ever. Crime rates were higher than ever, but other than that, with all the hero hopeful teens turning their eyes instead on business, the economical part of society thrived under the attention. Before, the hero course was extremely popular, but the most outstanding school of the loop, U.A, had been shut down because of the incident, often referred to as ‘The Villain Raid’. This meant that hero schools in general had taken a giant hit, though none others were shut down. </p><p>Being a hero had been proved to be a reckless, and terrifying job, but Lev, as well as many others, were drawn to it anyway. For a sense of justice, however minor, or to learn to be a better hero than those before. Whatever reason there was, everyone around him, walking towards the exam site, were fully aware of what they were getting themselves into. The silver-haired boy stood tall as he arrived at the site, coming face to face- well, he was being dramatic. In reality, all of the heroes that would either be evaluating, or would be fighting, were far in front of the potential candidates. To avoid conversation to sprout between them, and for biases to be formed, most likely. His eyes flicked to all of the heroes, and he counted. There were 5 of them, so some would have to battle twice for the 10 of them participating. He knew most of them, though not by heart, and only from what he had dug up about their quirks from research, not stalking. </p><p>There was the Sunny hero, Sunsoaker, who could do exactly as her hero name entailed. Soak up the suns’ rays, and shoot it out of various parts of her body, including her feet and hands. It was useless if she had no sun, like in a cave or at night, but right now it was clear, and perfect weather for that sort of quirk. And then there was the Number hero, Minus. The amount of difficult math problems they solve equals the amount of strength they have, which wouldn’t be extremely problematic for the silver boy, as a few powerful hits couldn’t take him down. Minus always had their partner, Plus, by their side, and this event, it seemed, was no exception. They were twins, and had the same quirk, except for Minus, it was a problem where you had to subtract, and for Plus, it was the same but with addition. They would be fighting separately, though, which was at least a minor relief, as their teamwork made even extremely powerful villains shake slightly.</p><p>The two other heroes both had mutant quirks like himself. One had the properties of a lion, including a mane and claws. His most used move was his roar, where he roared loud enough that his enemies would freeze, which might be a bit painful. His name was Loarer, the Roaring hero. And, the Horse hero, Stomp, was self explanatory, with the special move of being able to kick, punch, and jump, extremely well. While Loarer seemed to dislike the media, despite his loud quirk, Stomp seemed to thrive with the attention, though she rarely got any, thanks to her being a sidekick of a less popular rescue agency that takes mutant types with slightly destructive quirks. </p><p>All of the heroes here were powerful, but they would definitely underestimate them, even subconsciously, which might be the difference between flunking and pulling through. Lev cast his gaze to the others near him. One had black hair, the hairstyle itself being slightly strange. Or, Lev personally didn’t love the hair. He was short, to be polite, but seemed quite stocky, though his downcast eyes showed a certain level of shyness. Despite this, the boy seemed determined. The silver haired other couldn’t distinguish a quirk that came from the boy, so it must be an emitter. Or, it could be a transformation quirk, Lev pondered for a second, before looking to the next person. His eyebrows were turned inwards slightly, and despite radiating a sense of tranquility, he looked a bit pissed. The two contradicting emotions confused Lev, but then again, it could be his quirk to make others feel calm. That would be useful in hero work, for both battles and rescue, if it really was his quirk. His hair was short, and his eyebrows bushy. There wasn’t anything extremely standoffish about him, apart from the fact that he seemed to just.. Radiate calmness, which was admittedly a bit distracting. Lev moved onto the next person. For the other boy, with bushy hair, and excited eyes, it was easy to see that he was a mutant of some type, but it was difficult to distinguish what animal he was a mutant off. He had claws like a wolf, but his eyes seemed focused, like a hawk (Lev would later find out that Inuoka, the boys’ name, had mutant parents; one a wolf and one a hawk, which explained his odd mixture of the two very different animals’ traits). No one else stood out to him, and before he could go over the ones that had again, a small cough brought the group to attention.</p><p>Minus cleared their throat again, and the extremely dull chatter that had previously filled the soon-to-be battle space quickly died. Everyone turned to the pro hero, and they seemed slightly flushed behind the mask, as if they enjoyed the attention, though Lev couldn’t tell for sure.</p><p>“Thank you for taking the entrance exam to the school of Nekoma, in order to brave the dangerous job of being a hero- wait- was that in the script?” Minus whispered the last part to Plus, who shook their head quickly. Minus seemed to freeze for a second, before laughing nervously and turning back to the small audience. “Well, anyway, yeah! Over the previous few years, after The Villain Raid-” Several of the crowd flinched at that- “the number of hero hopefuls took a dramatic plummet. So, even if you don’t get in, thank you for being courageous enough to even consider the idea of risking your life for the good of the world.” Minus bowed his head slightly, and the other pro’s soon joined. Lev looked sideways, slightly flushed in the face of attention. After a few more moments, they moved on, and the silver boy relaxed somewhat once the spotlight was off of him.</p><p>“Now. The test this year will be similar to the one last year, so if any of you bothered to do your research, congratulations, you have an advantage.” Minus continued. Lev sighed in relief, his it wasn’t stalking, oh my god, had paid off in the end. Plus picked up where their sibling had left off.</p><p>“You will draw a name out of this box. There are two of each of our names on them, so that you each get someone to fight, but no one has to fight more than twice. No switching. Whoever you get, you get, and you have to battle. Now, everyone picks one. When you have one, please stand back. We will fight in an order, based on who picks first and last. When you’re ready, please come and pick a piece of paper, to see who you will battle.” Plus finished. Everyone looked around nervously, before the strange mutant bounded up and broke the tense air. He reached into a box that had suddenly appeared next to Plus, and grinned at the hero.</p><p>“Guess I’m fighting you!” He chirped, before jogging to the back. Lev looked to the front. He walked up, smiling at the hero, and reached into the box to grab a name. He would be fighting Sunsoaker, which wasn’t the worst. The silver boy nodded, pondering the best way to execute his plan as he went to the back. Everyone else picked a name, and the end result was that, unless knocked out, which was extremely unlikely, Loarer would have to fight twice. </p><p>“Sō Inuoka will be battling me first, so I’ll be asking Minus to watch the hits and rack up the points.” Plus stated. Inuoka looked up and nodded, walking to the front where he faced the hero. “Please count down from 3, and then the match will commence.” They informed their sibling, who brought out a clipboard.</p><p>“Please get ready. If Inuoka, in 3 minutes, gets 5 hits or more, his likelihood of passing increases exceptionally with every hit.” Minus stated. “3..2..1.. And Go-”</p><p>The hero barely had time to finish before Plus had whipped out a piece of paper from seemingly nowhere, looking down onto it. Inuoka lunged forward, and feinted left before going right. Plus was forced to look up and dodge the hit, disrupting their train of thought to solve the problem. The other kicked off again and managed to graze the hero on their sleeve, though the kick to the stomach that followed looked painful. Inuoka was forced back, and groaned.</p><p>“That really hurt!” He said, before looking up. “But at least I hit you-”</p><p>“You’re on a time limit, no time to look cool!” A kid shouted. Inuoka, faltered, before gasping.</p><p>“Oh, you’re right!” He yelped, diving forward again. Lev blinked. His eyes seemed to narrow in on a specific spot. Would he feint, or go down or up? He can’t be that predictable. Plus obviously followed the same thought, because he closed off any openings for Inuoka to feint, except apparently being an idiot does have its benefits, because when the boy rammed into the hero on the spot he hadn’t even feinted, the hero didn’t  have enough time to completely block off the two punches, and one hit his stomach, while the other they blocked. Plus headbutted the boy with his mask and he got knocked off with a small yelp. </p><p>The boy staggered up, his head bleeding. “3 hits!” He said excitedly. Lev blinked. He had about a minute and a half left, and the hero had been caught off guard because of the boys’ idiocy. </p><p>It continued like this for the remainder of the time, and in total the boy pulled off 7 hits, mainly because of luck and the fact that he didn’t seem to care about being in pain, as he was thoroughly battered. When the timer sounded, all of the pain seemed to come back to the boy, and he collapsed. “I did it!” He said, grinning weakly. The healer that was there in case of emergencies took him away with a mutter of, ‘goddamn kids..’. Much too soon, it was Lev’s turn, and he very much regretted picking second. </p><p>Plus brushed himself off. He had numerous light scratches and bruises, but nothing serious. “In total, Inuoka managed 7 hits, so he is mostly guaranteed to get into the hero course. Haiba Lev, you’re next. Same rules as Inuoka. You get 3 minutes to land as many hits on Sunsoaker.”</p><p>Lev went to the middle, and gulped. Theoretically, he had a plan, but it was unpredictable at best. He avoided much movement, as he was always told that his way of walking- if the opponent was even paying that much attention- was a small give away that he, because of his quirk, could bend in whatever direction he wanted. Sunsoaker went to the opposite end, obviously wanting to start charging up immediately. </p><p>“OK. 3.. 2.. 1..And Go.” This time, neither of the two moved. Lev wanted him to charge and shoot at him first, so he didn’t run headlong into danger, and Sunsoaker wanted to charge up. It would have been an interesting idea, to say the least, but after a few seconds, Lev got nervous and shot forwards. The time limit loomed over his head. The hero looked down, and shot a beam of light at him. Lev narrowly dodged the attack, not having to use his super bendiness yet. The hero wasn’t prepared for him to avoid the initial attack easily, and the silver boy managed to get a kick in before he had to bend into a bridge to avoid the next beam. It hit him anyway, and Lev hissed at the burn that had appeared. Was light always so hot? </p><p>“What the hell- you’re so bendy?!” The hero said, minorly disturbed as Lev kicked back onto his feet. He rushed Sunsoaker again, and feinted left, before quickly snapping to the right, managing to land a punch. It would have been majestic, except he got sucker-punched in the gut right afterwards. Lev bent over, wheezing, and was knocked down with an axe kick to his shoulder. The boy quickly rolled away before he could get any more damaged and shakily got up. He had planned to get in at least 3 hits before he resorted to his unstable plan, but he didn’t have the luck for that, apparently. He kicked off, and Sunsoaker tensed, but Lev stopped in front of him suddenly, and went down, bringing up dirt right in the hero’s face.</p><p>The hero yelped and Lev took the opportunity to deliver a messy kick. It normally would have been blocked or dodged, but the dust obscured the hero’s vision enough for it to land. The boy threw more dust up, and the hero tripped Lev. Lev could see through the dust to a certain extent, but because the other hero was wearing loose goggles as a fashion statement, they couldn’t see very well because the dirt had gone inside the goggles. There was only about 40 seconds left, so Lev lunged forward silently, hoping the dust in the goggles would be enough, and landed two punches, and narrowly dodged a messy kick, though the reason it was messy was also the punch that hit Lev. He landed and grunted as his head knocked against the ground. He registered the warm feeling of blood, before twisting and kicking the hero in the shin. Sunsoaker cursed, and the silver boy winced. That had to hurt. The hero threw off their glasses after a moment of struggle and-</p><p>The bell rang, signaling the end of the battle. </p><p>“Haiba Lev gets 6 hits in. Unless 2 or more people get over that, he will get into the hero course, in the case he passed his practical.” Plus announced. Lev nodded, though a wave of nausea hit him head on. When he had fallen, he had hit his head. The boy felt the back of his head, and his hand came back. </p><p>“Oops.” He said, waving to the medic. Lev hadn’t managed to damage the hero, but he had landed hits, which was what was needed. “I hit my head hard.”</p><p>The healer sighed exasperatedly. “Come on, then, let’s go to the nurse.”</p><p>Lev didn’t see the rest of the battles, but he found out shortly after that he had passed.</p><p>Now, that was a great day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Aoba Johsai Entrance Exam</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whoops sorry, this took a bit. I did say I procrastinated though. In hopes f getting the chapter out, I only did Kunimi's side, since it was easier. So uh, don't be pissed. Bye. Next chapter should be out by May 6th.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aobajohsai was a school he had not planned on considering. After all, a lot of work was needed to get in, nevermind staying there. Though, getting offered to take the recommendation exam was a surprise, and though usually Akira disliked surprises, he would have to put this in the mental book of ‘things to actually give a shit about’. There were about 3 things on that list, so whoever recommended him should be proud that he even bothered picking up the phone, when the call came. His mum had called him down and told him that it was for him. Akira had almost gone back upstairs, but he didn’t want the effort of walking down the stairs to be wasted. The boy had nodded to his mum, and she smiled at him before going back to working out. Thinking back, did she ever take a break? Well, whatever.</p>
<p>Kunimi had picked up the phone. He remembered half expecting it to be Kindaichi, but then again, why would the other boy call his house phone when he already had Kunimi’s number? He, luckily, didn’t have to wonder for long.</p>
<p>
  <em> “Hello! Is this Kunimi Akira?” A voice asked. Kunimi nodded, before remembering this wasn’t real life, and he couldn’t communicate through small gestures and hope others would interpret them correctly. Shame.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Yeah.” Kunimi tried his best to keep the exasperation out of his voice, because obviously this person knew it was him after his mother handed the phone to him with the message ‘Akira, this person wants to speak with you!’, and barely succeeded in the attempt to not sound like a righteous prick for once in his life. It was a talent, really, how well he pulled it off most days.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Good, good. I hope your day's going well. Now, you can tell that I didn’t call you just to say that, because-” The man had already become annoying, and that was quite a record. Usually Akira had about 30 seconds before someone started annoying the hell out of him.<br/>“I don’t even know who you are.” He deadpanned, causing a nervous chuckle from the other end. Kunimi almost- almost- scoffed.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Mighty impatient, aren’t you? I was about to get to that part. I’m the principal of Aobajohsai, and someone asked me that you be allowed to participate in the entrance exam for recommendations. Which means that you’re a recommendation student. Which means, come to the campus at a date that we’ll send to you later!” The man said, in seemingly one breath. Kunimi was suddenly sad he couldn’t use his quirk through phones. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“So, I’m a recommendation for Aobajohsai, and you want me to take the recommendation exam?” Kunimi stated. The principal made a noise of confirmation.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“This year, we’re accepting only 2 or 3 students, so do your best, and don’t slack off.” The man laughed, and Kunimi indulged in a small fit of rage as this man used his number 11th least favorite quote, ‘don’t slack off’, before cooling off again.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Ok, is that all?” Silence from the other end, and Kunimi half expected the man to clear his throat and start a new speech.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Huh, no excitement? That’s a first. Well, whatever! I’m sure you’ll do fine. Goodbye!” The man said, Kunimi sighing. He could almost feel the unbearably large, energetic grin from the other end, and then the phone call ended, and he had a lot of explaining to do to his mum. </em>
</p>
<p>Wow, did he just do a flashback? He must be especially tired today. Speaking of tired, or more accurately, tiring, he was supposed to meet with Kindaichi today, after an excited text, and the message that Kindaichi apparently had something that he desperately needed to tell him. Kunimi was only slightly worried that he needed help hiding a body.</p>
<p>Kunimi lugged himself up and got ready. His mum already knew where he was off to, as he had told her the previous night, about both the phone call and that he was meeting Kindaichi. She had made sure to review the rules of ‘stranger danger’- he was 16, but Akira could see reason for it, as in the situation that someone tried to kidnap him, he’d probably just go with them without fighting on the pretext of ‘too much effort’- and gave him 1’000 yen. Kunimi thanked her, and she smiled back, and he was off.</p>
<p>A few minutes of walking later, he arrived at their spot. It wasn’t really a surprise that the other was already there, as Kunimi was always ‘fashionably late’ (he hadn’t even known that was a thing before someone had pointed it out- now, it was his excuse for everything). Kindaichi spotted him, and waved him over. </p>
<p>“So, what’s this thing you were so desperate about?” Kunimi got to the point instantly. He knew Kindaichi well enough that while normal conversation starters such as ‘how are you’ were a must for the boy, he didn’t particularly like them if he had something else he wanted to get to. Sure enough, Kindaichi let a small smile onto his face, before turning to him. Kunimi sat down. This would be a long one, wouldn’t it? The scowl that had seemed to plague the boy had been replaced by a smile. Yep, he was excited.</p>
<p>“I got invited for a recommendation exam at the school I wanted to go to!” Kindaichi said proudly, and Kunimi tried to remember if Kindaichi had ever said anything about the school he wanted to enter. When Akira came up with nothing, he just nodded.</p>
<p>“Sounds fun. I also got a recommendation request, actually.” Kunimi replied. Kindaichi grinned, and Kunimi looked to the side. Too energetic. When the boy actually got happy and excited, he was almost as bad as- Well. He wasn’t friends with enough people to make a fair comparison, but he was almost annoyingly bright. “You go first, which school?” Kunimi questioned.</p>
<p>“I’d be offended you didn’t remember, but I can’t actually recall if I even told you. Uh, Aobajohsai. I heard that they’re only accepting 2 or 3 students this year, because an incident with a now third year blowing up half of the campus, and them needing to compensate for it, so I’m gonna have to work hard.” He finished his little speech, and Kunimi nodded.</p>
<p>“Yeah, same.”</p>
<p>“Wait, same as in, you’re gonna work hard!?” Kindaichi gasped, and Kunimi shot him a glare. </p>
<p>“No, same as in same the entire thing, apart from the last sentence, because working hard is icky.” Akira elaborated after a short pause. </p>
<p>“Oh! Guess we’ll be in the same school for the next 3 years, as well!” Kindaichi stated the obvious. In an attempt to not ruin the moment, Kunimi only nodded. “Well. I’ll see you in.. A week, right?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, a week. Did you happen to catch what the exam was on?” </p>
<p>“Uh. Did you?”</p>
<p>“Would I be asking if I knew?”</p>
<p>“..Fair point.”</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>A week of relaxing, by which he meant getting up, doing enough activity to not turn into a blob, eat, and sleep. And then it was time for the exam. Kunimi sighed. Before Kageyama, Kindaichi had been a pretty playful person, overall, and now that he was gone, that might come back, even a bit. While he was happy that Kindaichi wouldn’t be scowling constantly (they were supposed to be good cop and bad cop, and no way in hell was Kunimi of all people being the good cop), the energy couldn’t be something he would ever look forward to. He ate breakfast (courtesy of his amazing mum) and headed out, a thank you tossed over his shoulder from the ‘good luck!’ that his mother had called out. </p>
<p>He took the train to the address that he had, sure enough, gotten 2 days ago, and was greeted by a frankly gigantic school. Was he always this short, or was this building just huge? His mental question was answered when he heard Kindaichi come up behind him. The other was taller than him, and he was still nowhere near the school's height. So, this was just a giant school. Kunimi felt a slight bit of an anxious tingle flicker, but he quickly squashed it in favor of tugging Kindaichi along to the place where all the obnoxiously placed signs were pointing.</p>
<p>The signs did nothing to try to hide themselves or their message, with blatant ‘Recommendation exams to the left, practice exams to the right’, in hot pink no less. Akira almost found it funny, which was probably the intention, when he thought about it a bit more.</p>
<p>Unless these people had actual dreadful style, he couldn’t imagine this not being a joke. Kindaichi actually snorted at them. Despite the signs, though, a small thought sprung up. Why were they basically the only ones there? They arrived at the exam site, and only 2 others stood there. They had checked the practical beforehand, and there weren’t more than 3. This would be all the people, as well, as they had cut it extremely close in terms of time when checking the practical exam site. </p>
<p>“Glad you could make it. Please join the line.” A woman said, motioning towards the group of people. With how small it was, it could barely be called a line, but Akira wasn’t about to become a nitpicker. The woman that had earlier spoken looked ever so slightly annoyed. Joy. Apparently, she didn’t tolerate near tardiness. Uh oh, Kunimi’s fashionably late story would have to get a few upgrades.</p>
<p>Kunimi strolled to the supposed line, with the other following. </p>
<p>"I didn't expect there to be so few.." Kindaichi whispered to him. Akira only nodded. "It's pretty unnerving, since they'll be watching us even closer now."</p>
<p>"They'd be watching you anyway. Plus, if you wanna be a hero, hating public attention is kinda a huge drawback." Kunimi stated. Kindaichi nervously chuckled, which the boy chose to take as an agreement.</p>
<p>"The entrance exam for recommendations to Aobajohsai is a simple game of Tag, except that there is only one tagger, and one hider. You will be put into pairs that I'll choose randomly, though there's not much of a diversity here, as there are only 4. We expect a lot from you during this exam, and whether you pass the written, doesn't really matter, as long as you pass this. Though, if you fail the written, you're also royally screwed, so.</p>
<p>"The hider has to try and well, hide, from the tager for 3 minutes. If the tager manages to touch them, they lose. Simple as that. We will evaluate on stuff that I'm not going over. Good luck." With that, the instructions ended, and Kunimi felt a spark of nervousness sprout yet again, which he killed, yet again. He glanced at Kindaichi, who looked nervous enough for both of them. Kunimi tried to think of a line besides 'you look like your quirk just malfunctioned', as that would only make him more anxious, but his sharp tongue faltered at the realization he had to try and make sure his friend didn’t get any more terrified than he already was, instead of achieve the opposite effect.</p>
<p>Kunimi decided on a sigh to express his disdain. He looked around the group. No mutant quirks, as far as he could see, but a transformation quirk might be hiding. No equipment either. Ones’ hair was a dark grey, and anothers’ a fire red, though Akira wasn’t dumb enough to assume he had a fire quirk because of that. A disadvantage, as his hair colour greatly gave him away.</p>
<p>“So, it will be Kunimi Akira as a hider versus Attōteki Hageshī as a seeker, and Kieru Tsukatte as a hider versus Kindaichi Yūtarō as a seeker. I will not be disclosing information on your weaknesses or strengths. You have 5 minutes to think of a plan, or waste your time chatting.” The informant- that sounded like a spy movie- said, before backing away to the edge of the field. </p>
<p>“Well, she gave us the names, but not who they actually are.” Kindaichi broke the silence after a moment, and Kunimi gave him a stare. He blinked, before elaborating. “The lady didn’t say which was which, so we don’t know who we are battling, still.” </p>
<p>“Mmh, I guess so..” Akira nodded after a moment. “Do you wanna leave it like that and strategize, or introduce ourselves?”</p>
<p>“I feel like if we talk to them, they might be able to find out certain habits.. Though, then again, no one can do a whole lot in 5 minutes.” He smiled a bit, his attempt at optimism futile. </p>
<p>“Well, I have a decent plan that could maybe work.” Kunimi said, flumping to the ground. Kindaichi followed shortly after. “Since we don’t know their quirks, we give them nothing to work with, which sounds shallow, but think about it. Don’t speak, or let them touch you, for starters. If you can manage, don’t make any noise at all. When you see.. Who was it, Kiaru-”</p>
<p>“Kieru.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, whatever. When you see Kieru, immediately activate your quirk from a location he can’t see, hear, or touch. It should be easy, given the range of yours.” Kunimi finished. Kindaichi nodded.</p>
<p>“Makes sense. What if his range is longer?”</p>
<p>“Figure that out yourself.” He deadpanned, getting up as the lady walked from the edge of the field to the center. Akira almost smiled at the harsh glare he got from the other. </p>
<p>“Now that you’ve had some time, I ask that Kindaichi and Kieru get off the field, to make way for the battle. You’ll be in the forest at the back of the school, with no one else. There are cameras everywhere though, so don’t worry about getting severely damaged and dying. Yet.” The lady said.</p>
<p>Very reassuring, Kunimi thought dryly, as Kindaichi’s eyes widened somewhat. Oh, great. Well, then again, performing under pressure is crucial. Akira looked to the other group, and they seemed somewhat shaken, though the grey fellow seemed to be trying to calm the other down, to a certain extent.</p>
<p>“I’m kidding, somewhat. You’ll be in danger as heroes, but right now this is just a test.” Despite saying it was a joke, her straight expression didn’t deliver the words very well. “Kunimi will have a minute to hide in the forest, and from then on there will be 3 minutes for Attōteki to find and tap him. Understand?” They both nodded. </p>
<p>Usually, hiding in a place that’s fairly obvious would be ideal, but Kunimi didn’t know this guy’s quirk. He raised his hand, and the teacher called on him shortly after.</p>
<p>“What if I attack him first?” He asked. </p>
<p>“If you touch him, you’re out.”</p>
<p>“Thanks.” That made it a lot harder, since he couldn’t distract him. A telekinesis quirk would be amazing for this type of test, but sadly he was inconvenienced once again by having to get up to do things. Kunimi sighed, a temptation to give up and lie down rising. But, there was about 5 seconds until the test started. He could last 4 minutes, it would be fine.</p>
<p>Maybe.</p>
<p>“OK. Kunimi, your time starts when you enter the forest, so please go ahead and don’t keep us waiting.”  The lady spoke again. Kunimi nodded.</p>
<p>“Good luck, man!” Attōteki said, a grin painting his face. Akira fought to keep the exasperation off his face. He wasn’t one to want- or need, hopefully- something as chancy as luck. Kunimi didn’t offer a reply, instead leisurely strolling to the forest. When he got to the entrance, he fell into a light jog, mentally tallying the seconds he spent.</p>
<p>Kunimi was sure they could no longer see him, after a few twists and turns, so he turned left, towards a tree with a slightly uprooted trunk. He didn’t mind the dirt, exactly, but all the bugs… Climbing under there was a no go. Instead, he looked for small nooks and crannies. He had about 15 seconds left. There was nothing he could easily climb in that amount of time- Not that he’d want to anyway. Kunimi looked around. 10 seconds remaining.</p>
<p>At 7, he found a dense bush, and at 3 he had checked it for bugs. When the alarm rang through the forest, he was safely nestled in. It wasn’t the most convenient place, as if the tagger did land up seeing him, he couldn’t escape without a few scratches, but his clothes were dark colours, per usual, and his hair didn’t stick out against greenery. Combined with the density of the bush, and the fact he was a bit dirty, he could survive an estimated 1 and a half minutes before he had to move.</p>
<p>There was about 2 minutes and 40 seconds remaining thus far, and nothing seemed to be going on around him. Akira twisted his neck to the side, before looking backwards with slight difficulty. No one approached him. He heard no loud crashes, so at least the possibility of a huge transformation quirk was gone, as usually those took a while to activate, and the opposition would have already used it, in an attempt to knock him out if he was in the premises. That narrowed it down to a small transformation quirk, or an emitter quirk. </p>
<p>If it was an emitter quirk, it wouldn’t be one with fire, water, ice or earth. Eliminating all the ones where it would make an appearance, or a sound, it has to be based on the human body. If it were noise, then the other would have immediately used it to scout out the area. Earth, and Kunimi would have been screwed. Whatever the quirk, the boy would have seen it being used. Therefore, it has to be something unseeable, like.. Light? It wouldn’t be light, since Kunimi has been observing, and apart from the shadows moving slightly in time with the wind hitting the trees, nothing has changed.</p>
<p>Kunimi felt a slight bit of annoyance creep into him. There hadn’t been enough time to figure it out, which was prickly alone, but then he was thrust into this with no information whatsoever, which escalated the feeling to the small amount he was now feeling. Though, looking back, the real ‘oh shit’ moment was when that skyrocketed. The boy shook his head, trying to clear it of the mass amount of frustration he was feeling. He tried concentrating, though only a few full fledged thoughts were able to make it past the feelings that clouded his concentration.</p>
<p>Akira shook his head again. If the quirk was that the opponent was able to amplify the emotions felt by others- as he knew that he had never felt this strongly on anything before- Kunimi just had to make an emotion that wouldn’t be inconvenient to take over. Kunimi took deep breaths, not bothering to close his eyes in fear that the opponent would sneak up on him. Oh, and there it was, what should have been a slight prickle was an onslaught of panic, which quickly swung to frustration and then anger. The boy held his head and took a couple more deep breaths.</p>
<p>Though, it wasn’t needed when all of the emotions suddenly left. Kunimi blinked, momentarily confused, before realizing the other might’ve left the area. Akira knew his quirk now, though that wasn’t a guarantee to victory, as a lot of other qualities could be used to win in the- How long was left?</p>
<p>The boy internally sighed. In the wave that had crashed onto him, he had forgotten the time. A slight rustle was heard, and Kunimi whipped around, narrowly moving his head from a punch that would have probably knocked him out. Akira jumped out of the bush, trying to ignore the various stings that came with scratching his arms from the stray branches. A hand darted out, trying to catch onto his clothing, but missed when Kunimi kicked the bush inwards, most likely causing the person to close their eyes to avoid going blind. </p>
<p>His opponent was smart. Akira had let his guard down when he thought the other had left the area he was in, but the other had only deactivated their quirk. Speaking of quirks, Kunimi should probably use his, though he had to make sure to find a place to hide before his energy ran out. As the boy landed outside the bush, he became aware that the other would most certainly use their quirk right now. Kunimi immediately activated his after realizing this, forcing himself not to wince as the air- and his energy- ran dry. His opponent had obviously already been breathless, and his eyes widened. Kunimi didn’t bother to see anything else, and ran.</p>
<p>After about 11 seconds, he let go of his quirk, trying to ignore the slight blackening edges of his vision. He blinked, and finally registered the alarm that went off. Oh, he won. Expected, after he probably left the other either passed out or close to it, but it was still relatively close. Kunimi sighed, before plopping next to a rock, leaning against it, and falling asleep.</p>
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